Trip Report Our Journey to the Dark Side, plus a little bit of Disney...June 2018 **Completed**

We're back!!
2801128_98956790.jpg

Who: Me (Amy), the hubby (Brian), and our three kids, Logan (15), Lily (13), and Owen (10)
Where: Universal Orlando (Cabana Bay Beach Resort and Hard Rock Hotel) plus one day on Disney property
When: Sunday, June 10 - Saturday, June 16

I was bad and didn't take notes this trip, so my pics may need to speak for themselves at times!

Sunday, June 10
Brian and I got up at midnight to start getting ready. We had the kids up and ready and the car packed by a little after 1:00am. The drive was so much better this year than last! Some of it was that we chose to drive through the night, but we didn't hit any major construction either, which helped a lot. It was even smooth sailing through Atlanta!! We brought granola bars, Nutrigrain bars, OJ, and apple juice and ate breakfast while driving. We also packed lunch items and ate quickly at the Florida Welcome Center. We made it in plenty of time for OJ this year!
20180610_120855 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
20180610_121053 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

First sighting of Universal: Volcano Bay and Cabana Bay Beach Resort:
20180610_153119 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
20180610_153129 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

We pulled in about 3:30pm, so we made it in a little over 14 hours (took us closer to 17 last year!!).
20180610_153332 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
 
Click to expand...
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The parking situation for check in was crazy, so Owen and I ran in while Brian tried to find a spot for the car (so no lobby pics yet). Lately, I've heard some bad things about check in at Cabana Bay, but we had no problem whatsoever. In fact, she went out of her way to get us a room on a higher floor and as close to Volcano Bay as she could.

We got a family suite which was 2 queen beds and a pullout couch. We loved it and would absolutely stay there again! The only bad thing for me would be the distance from the parks and the lack of Express passes, but if we were on a tight budget, I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again!

Pics of the room:
IMG_7486 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7487 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7488 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7489 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7490 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
Walk in closet:
IMG_7491 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7492 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7494 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7496 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7495 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7493 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7568 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
 
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We then made our way back to the lobby to exchange our ticket print outs for actual tickets that would fit in our lanyards.
IMG_7564 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
Chandelier that was outside the elevators:
IMG_7567 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

Lobby:
IMG_7497 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7498 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7499 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
I see some hidden Mickeys!!
IMG_7500 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

Then we headed outside to find the bridge over to Sapphire Falls to catch the water taxi to CityWalk.
IMG_7501 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7503 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

This was the walkway/bridge over a major roadway:
IMG_7504 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
It was really impressive!

Our first view of Sapphire Falls:
IMG_7505 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7506 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
 
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The pathways leading to CityWalk and the parks were called the Garden Walk. All of them were beautiful!
IMG_7507 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

Pic from across the street:
IMG_7508 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

Then we made our way into Sapphire Falls to find the boat dock.
IMG_7509 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7510 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

The new hotel opening in August, Aventura:
IMG_7511 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

Back to Sapphire Falls:
IMG_7512 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7513 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7514 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7515 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7516 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

Stairwell down to the boat dock:
IMG_7517 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7518 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7519 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7520 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
 
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We arrived at CityWalk and made our way to Brian's choice for dinner:
IMG_7532 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7533 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7534 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

We were seated right away!
IMG_7535 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7536 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7537 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

If you needed your waitress for anything, you switched your sign from run to stop!
IMG_7539 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7540 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7541 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

Lily and I shared the fish and shrimp platter:
IMG_7542 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

Owen got ribs, not that you can see them in this pic, but I thought the presentation was cute!
IMG_7543 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

Logan got fried shrimp. They looked the same as the ones on my plate, so no pic!
Brian got a sampler that had grilled shrimp, fried shrimp, hushpuppies, and spicy chicken wings:
IMG_7544 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

All was delicious and very reasonably priced!
 
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We then did some browsing throught CityWalk.
IMG_7545 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7546 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7547 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7548 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7549 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7550 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7551 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7552 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7554 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7555 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7556 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7557 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

And we checked out the piece of the Berlin Wall that is behind the Hard Rock Cafe:
IMG_7558 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

IMG_7560 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

Uh oh, that sky looks bad! It was also starting to thunder, so they stopped running the boats. We decided to walk back quickly instead of heading to the bus stop.
IMG_7561 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7562 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7563 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

We got back to Cabana Bay just as the skies opened up!
We relaxed in the room while the storm passed. Then we made our way back to the car to get the rest of our snacks out. Here is what we could see of Volcano Bay:
IMG_7565 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
We could see this from our room as well!

And here is a pic of the Continental building we stayed in:
IMG_7566 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
 
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
LeighM said:
Really enjoying your trip report. The two restaurants at Universal that I want to try the most are Bubba Gump's and Toothsome. I kinda feel guilty at the number of shrimp I can eat LOL and those meals looked good.
Click to expand...

Thanks for reading! Everything we ate at Bubba Gump's was delicious!
 
Jae99

Jae99

Well-Known Member
It looks like a great start to your trip. I have a question though. Is there a reason you chose not to use the buses? On our trip we found the buses to be extremely efficient. Have they changed their bussing routes now that they had built more value type resorts?

I still find it hard to believe that the prices for Cabana Bay are pretty similar to the value resorts in WDW.
 
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Jae99 said:
It looks like a great start to your trip. I have a question though. Is there a reason you chose not to use the buses? On our trip we found the buses to be extremely efficient. Have they changed their bussing routes now that they had built more value type resorts?

I still find it hard to believe that the prices for Cabana Bay are pretty similar to the value resorts in WDW.
Click to expand...
We were only at Cabana Bay the one night, so I have no idea about the general bus schedule. We chose to walk that night basically because we had been sitting for 14 hours in the car!!
 
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Monday, June 11

We were up early today so we could reload the car before making our way to Volcano Bay! We had early entry hours starting at 8am, and we planned to be there before that!
Toiletries that were in the shower:
IMG_7569 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
The soap is a bar of Zest to go with the V05 shampoo and conditioner! Loved the little retro touches!

After loading the car up, we moved it so we were closer to the private Volcano Bay entrance so we wouldn't have to walk so far later in the day. It was an easy move, and we soon found our way to VB.
IMG_7570 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7571 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

Cabana Bay has a separate security screening area that makes it much faster to enter into the park.

IMG_7572 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7573 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

We turned the corner and there she was:
20180611_074143 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
I realized later that I had cut the Y off in the picture! Oops! I got a better one as we were leaving.

We were the first ones in our line, so I made sure to ask all my questions about finding certain things before we even entered the park!

A pic of the main entrance area that I took as we were waiting. We didn't have to wait long, so I got more as we were leaving.
IMG_7575 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
 
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We entered quickly, receiving our TapuTapu bands as they scanned our tickets, and were soon on our way to check in to our cabana. I was worried about how long it would take since they don't let you into your cabana before the park opens like Disney does, but it was all a very streamlined process and we were on our way with our guide in no time!

IMG_7576 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
He spelled our name wrong, just like everyone else! The kids kept trying to find the chalk so they could correct it!
We were in the Wave Village, which is in front of and just to the side of the volcano. They just assign you a cabana on a first come, first served basis in the morning. We were assigned to C4. It ended up being the perfect location! Seriously, if you ever rent a cabana at Volcano Bay, see if this one is available!!
IMG_7577 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7578 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7579 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
They provided towels for us, so we didn't need to bring them or rent them. It was very convenient!
We also had our own TapuTapu station, so we didn't have to walk to each attraction to get a return time. This was a great feature of the cabana!
IMG_7580 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr

And here was our view:
IMG_7581 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
We were looking out directly over the tranquil pool and could see the wave pool.
And we were nestled right up against the volcano!
IMG_7582 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
 
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The only thing that irritated me a little was that the cabana comes with water bottles, but they weren't stocked right away, and when they did bring them, they were not cold. The little mini fridge didn't do a very good job of cooling them! Also, we got a welcome basket with fruit and pastries that took quite some time to be delivered, so we were starving by the time it got there, as we hadn't eaten breakfast knowing we had that! Oh well, minor annoyances! Here is the welcome basket:
IMG_7585 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
Another pic of the view once the sun was all the way up:
20180611_093952 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
It really was beautiful!!

I didn't take my camera with me initially, as I wasn't going to be allowed to take it with me on the rides like you can at Disney. We all rode Krakatau the water coaster twice with no wait, then Logan and Brian went to ride the big drop slide that is at the top of the volcano, and Lily, Owen, and I rode the coaster again with no wait. Once we met up again, we rode the two family raft rides that would have the longest waits later in the day. Then I think we rode the last two family raft rides before splitting up again to do our own things, Brian with Logan and I was with Lily and Owen. They rode tube slides that they could do together, while I waited and took pics!
IMG_7588 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7589 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7590 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7591 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7592 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7593 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7594 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7595 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7597 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7598 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7599 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7600 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
IMG_7601 by Amy Clingner, on Flickr
 

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